How effective has the coronavirus vaccine been in Colorado? – The Colorado Sun

Connecticut will be using $11 million from the AmericanRescue Planto fund summer learning program opportunities.

Officials, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Sen. Chris Murphy and Gov. Ned Lamont, among others, held a news conference about the initiative Wednesday. They say the funding is intended to close the learning gap students have faced because of the virtual learning necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There's so much uncertainty for parents right now on what programs are going to be open and available and whether they're going to be able to afford to send their kids to good-quality summer programs," Murphy said. "With jobs returning, workers coming back into an office setting, this summer is a really important time to make sure parents have a safe place to send their kids."

Funding will be provided through a competitive grant process. The state is offering either expansion grants, which are smaller and targeted toward local community organizations that already work closely with students and their families, or innovation grants, which will go toward programs with regional or statewide impact. Expansion grants go up to $25,000 and innovation grants up to $250,000.

Chris Soto, director of innovation and partnerships for thestate Department of Education,said the department is going to act as the fiduciary in distributing grants.

The $11 million is part of the American Rescue Plan that was recently passed, Soto said, and is a portion of the federal funding allocated to thestate Department of Education.

Blumenthal said the money will be used in part to address racial disparities. "One of the great points about this program is that it will target those underserved communities of color because they have seen twice the death rates and half the vaccination rates," he said.

Soto said expansion grants could apply to Parks and Recreation and YMCA programs, among others, and could possibly expand the number of children they serve. Innovation grants are "looking at these bold initiatives that summer programs maybe couldn't do in the past because they didn't have enough money."

Lamont said he hoped some towns and cities would be able to match money provided by the state and increase the impact of the initiative.

Michele Rulnick, president and CEO of the Middlesex YMCA, and Michelle Doucette Cunningham, executive director of the Connecticut After School Network, said staffing for summer programs will be a challenge.

But, Soto said, the state is working with institutions of higher education to try and organize and deploy groups of college students for summer programs. Speakers at the news conference said there will be plenty of job opportunities for college and high school students as part of the $11 million.

The state Department of Education will release more information about the grant application process in coming days, according to the governor's office.

s.spinella@theday.com

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian shares fell on Thursday, as the countrys medical system groaned under an unrelenting rise in coronavirus infections, reporting record jumps in both daily cases and deaths.

A broker reacts while trading at his computer terminal at a stock brokerage firm in Mumbai, India, December 11, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo

The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.32% to 14,251.15 by 0430 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex slid 0.44% to 47,494.41.

Both the indexes fell as much as 1% to hit their lowest in nearly three months, as concerns about a halt in the countrys nascent economic recovery intensified after it reported over 300,000 new cases on Thursday.

Indias tally of COVID-19 cases soared by 314,835 over the previous 24 hours, the highest daily increase recorded anywhere. The previous record one-day rise in cases was held by the United States, at 297,430, in January.

There is selling pressure on the market on fears that virus led restrictions will now extend beyond the bigger cities and to smaller towns and states as cases continue to rise, Siddharth Purohit, research analyst at SMC Global Securities said.

Meanwhile, the chief executive officer at Serum Institute of India, which manufactures the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, said it will not be able to raise its monthly output to 100 million doses until July, possibly slowing the countrys immunisation drive.

Consumer goods stocks dropped 0.9%, on track to fall for the third straight session, with Hindustan Unilever falling 2.6% to drive the losses on the benchmark index.

Private banks fell 1.2%, with heavyweight HDFC Bank Ltd losing 0.9%.

Auto stocks declined 0.9%, with Maruti Suzuki India falling 1%.

Pharmaceutical stocks, meanwhile, rose 1.3% as demand for medical supplies and hospital beds continued to soar.

Metal stocks also rose, as Chinese steel futures hit a record high on strengthening demand.

Reporting by Soumyajit Saha in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V

Heres what you need to know:Video

transcript

transcript

After a careful review of the cases of blood clots combined with low platelets reported after vaccination with Johnsons Covid-19 vaccine, the PRAC has concluded that there is a possible link between the occurrence of these blood clots, combined with the low levels of blood platelets, thrombocytopenia, and the vaccination with the Covid-19 vaccine, Johnson. The product information will be updated to reflect this information, and will include a warning and an update of the side effects. The reported cases occurred mostly in women under 60 years, and within the first three weeks after the vaccination. A fatal outcome has been reported. The careful review of the cases, and other available evidence, have led the committee to the conclusion that these blood-clotting disorders are very rare side effects of the vaccine. However, our work does not stop here. We will analyze any new data and any new evidence as it becomes available, and provide updated guidance as needed. At this moment, its not possible to identify clear risk factors for the occurrence of these very rare events, such as gender or age.

BRUSSELS Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday that it would resume the rollout of its coronavirus vaccine in Europe after the European Unions drug regulator said that a warning should be added to the product indicating a possible link to rare blood clots, but that the shots benefits outweigh the risks.

The company decided to delay distribution in the blocs 27 member states last week, after regulators in the United States suspended use of the vaccine there amid concerns about the potential side effects.

The E.U. drug regulators endorsement even with the caveat not only clears a path for Johnson & Johnson in Europe, but could presage how the United States will handle the vaccine in the days to come.

On Friday, an advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is scheduled to meet for a second time to decide whether to recommend lifting a pause on the vaccines use in the United States, perhaps with a similar warning.

That would free up millions of doses for the fierce battle against the a virus that still spreading and mutating. Almost eight million Americans have already had the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

But some health experts worry that the headline-grabbing pause, which began over a week ago, might discourage some people from getting vaccinated, even though the risks from Covid-19 are far greater than the risk from a clot.

Youve put a scarlet letter on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, said Dr. Paul A. Offit, a vaccine expert at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.

After clotting concerns associated with another vaccine, produced by AstraZeneca, were reported in Europe, Dr. Offit noted, some grew leery of it, overestimating the threat. For the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the clot risk has been put at an estimated one in a million.

If you take a theoretical million people who are infected with Covid, five thousand will die, Dr. Offit said. Therefore, the benefits of this vaccine clearly outweigh its risks.

A loss of confidence in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may carry a particular cost.

The vaccine has been greeted warmly by many health workers because it requires just a single shot, unlike the ones from Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech, and is easier to store than some other vaccines. It is especially useful for hard-to-reach or transient populations.

There is no doubt in my mind that there are groups for whom this vaccine is of benefit, Dr. Offit said, meaning that theyre more likely to get this vaccine than the other vaccines, whether its because of where they live, or because theyre homebound, or its hard to get a second dose.

If that changes, he said, then you have probably elevated a rare risk above a much more common risk, and youve done harm.

In clearing the way for the vaccines use, the E.U.s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, said the blood clots, which have been reported in a very small group of people, are very similar to those associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The E.M.A.s recommendation is not binding, but it is the first indication of what might happen next with the European rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The agency said that authorities in individual E.U. member states should decide how to proceed, taking into account their particular case load and vaccine availability. Poland is the only E.U. country that defied the companys guidance and went ahead and administered some Johnson & Johnson doses over the past week.

All the rare cases of blood clots reviewed by the European regulator were reported in the United States, but the agency proceeded with its recommendations Tuesday before U.S. regulators acted.

On Tuesday, the White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that a total of 28 million doses were shipping this week to states, jurisdictions and federal programs, as the U.S. vaccination campaign continued with the other two authorized vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

The United States has come a long way since Covid-19 vaccines first arrived at hospitals and long-term care facilities in December. More than 209 million doses have been administered.

But the next phase of the rollout will bring new challenges, and some scientists and health officials worry that some of the most vulnerable people including those 65 and older may have trouble competing for a shot now that all adults are eligible for inoculation.

Cindy A. Prins, an epidemiologist at the University of Florida, said that adding more younger people into the mix could spur the opening of more mass vaccination sites, but that those sites might be intimidating or uncomfortable for older people or for anyone who is particularly vulnerable to the virus.

I think there are some folks who want to get the vaccine, but theyre still very worried about getting exposed to other people, Dr. Prins said. Its a little bit of a strange situation where were like, Stay away from everyone, but please come here to our massive vaccine clinic.

As it stands, older adults are the most vaccinated age group in the country. Yet about a fifth of those 65 and older, a group that is particularly vulnerable to serious complications and death from the virus, have not received even one shot. Among them are some residents of long-term care facilities, which have represented more than a third of overall coronavirus deaths in the United States.

There are many reasons that eligible people may not be vaccinated, including lingering issues of short supply, limited access to vaccination sites and confusing procedures for booking appointments. Some older people may also be hesitant or unwilling to get a shot.

Dr. Prins added that some older adults could be waiting until their regular doctors or other health care providers can give them the vaccine.

There may be people who are not necessarily homebound, but maybe they dont drive, Dr. Prins said. Maybe its not easy and convenient for them to get somewhere to get vaccinated.

Dr. Lisa Cooper, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity, suggested that health officials might encourage young people to help them vaccinate the older people in their lives.

She said: We need to start asking the younger folks, Wheres your mom? Your grandmother? Have they all gotten their vaccines yet? If not, weve got several slots, and we want your whole family here.

A congressional panel has opened an investigation into Emergent BioSolutions, the company whose Baltimore factory ruined millions of doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, focusing on whether it was improperly awarded a $628 million federal contract to manufacture vaccines.

The inquiry will look into whether a Trump administration official steered the work to the company despite questions about its qualifications, according to a statement released late Monday. The investigation was announced by Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney, a New York Democrat who heads the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and James E. Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina who heads a subcommittee on the pandemic response.

Mr. Clyburn requested that Emergents two top executives testify at a May 19 hearing and provide a wide array of records.

Specifically, we are investigating reports that Emergent received multimillion-dollar contracts to manufacture coronavirus vaccines despite a long, documented history of inadequately trained staff and quality control issues, the statement said. It also said the company had a track record of raising prices and failing to meet contract requirements.

The committees said they were also looking into Emergents actions to unduly influence anthrax vaccine assets in the Strategic National Stockpile, the subject of a New York Times article last month.

The congressional inquiry is the latest in a series of problems for Emergent, a longtime federal contractor that has a reputation for aggressive lobbying tactics. This month, the Food and Drug Administration began an audit of its factory in southeastern Baltimore after workers contaminated a batch of Johnson & Johnsons vaccine with an ingredient for AstraZenecas vaccine, another product manufactured at the plant.

Emergent said on Monday that it had suspended operations at the plant and acknowledged that it needed to make improvements to restore confidence in its work. It also said it was quarantining the vaccine substance already produced at the plant until after the inspection ends and the company has had a chance to fix any problems highlighted in the review.

Biden administration officials have said that AstraZenecas vaccine will no longer be manufactured at the plant, and Johnson & Johnson has vowed to exert stronger control over Emergent, its subcontractor. The F.D.A. has not certified the facility to distribute any vaccine to the public; all Johnson & Johnson doses that have been administered were manufactured overseas. AstraZenecas vaccine is not yet authorized in the United States.

The New York Times reported this month that confidential audits and internal documents showed that Emergent had failed to follow some basic industry standards and identified repeated shortcomings in efforts to prevent contamination. Those records were among the documents that congressional investigators are now seeking.

The inspections flagged a persistent problem with mold in areas required to be kept clean, poor disinfection of some plant equipment, repeated use of raw materials that were not fully tested and inadequate training of employees. In one month, they indicate, workers making AstraZenecas vaccine deviated from manufacturing standards an average of over three times a day.

The Emergent Baltimore facility is one of two federally designated Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing, created during the Obama administration, that were supposed to be at the ready in case of a pandemic. The company secured a $628 million contract to manufacture the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines in June.

The congressional lawmakers said that Dr. Robert Kadlec, who served as assistant health secretary for preparedness and response under President Donald J. Trump and previously worked as a consultant for Emergent, appears to have pushed for this award despite indications that Emergent did not have the ability to reliably fulfill the contract.

In an interview Tuesday, Dr. Kadlec said that his consulting work for Emergent in 2013 and 2014 involved educating leaders in South Korea and Saudi Arabia about the risks of bioterrorism, and that he did not promote the companys products. He said that when he awarded the company the contract in June, he was exercising an option on an earlier contract awarded in 2012 by his predecessor.

Dr. Kadlec said that he knew Emergent was a risky choice, but that federal officials had turned to Emergent because few companies based in the United States were able to make the type of vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, and because the government already had a contract with the company. He said he also sought to involve Merck, a more experienced manufacturer, but those negotiations did not work out.

That was the path of fastest action, but we recognized that there were going to be inherent risks with that approach, he said of working with Emergent, and we would try to mitigate those risks throughout.

All but eight of the detainees at Guantnamo Bay have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, the U.S. Southern Command said on Tuesday.

Biden administration officials said that the Department of Defense had expanded vaccine availability to all 40 detainees starting on Monday, the day that all people 16 years and older became eligible for vaccination in the United States.

The Southern Command, which oversees the detention center, first sought permission from the Trump administration to vaccinate the detainees in a Dec. 23 memo that described the prison population at Guantnamo as a high-risk community, and invoked both the Geneva Convention and Department of Defense guidance.

Thirty-two of the detainees have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, the command said in a statement. Military officials declined to say whether the other eight detainees were offered the first shot of the two-shot Moderna Covid-19 vaccine but refused.

The vaccines are not mandatory for the military or civilian Defense Department employees and were offered to the detainees on a voluntary basis. Many of them are approaching their second decade in U.S. detention and have chronic illnesses. The oldest is 73 and has a heart condition, diabetes and other geriatric illnesses.

The Biden administration froze initial plans to offer them the vaccine on Feb. 1, because elected officials and families of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks accused the Defense Department of putting terrorism suspects ahead of the American people, who were only just beginning to get access to the vaccines in substantial numbers at that point.

Vaccination rates have risen substantially since then across the country, which was nearing President Bidens goal of administering 200 million doses by his 100th day in office.

Defense officials also went forward with vaccinating the detainees this week in part because of what appears to be a significant rate of refusal to take the vaccines by adults at the base of about 5,500 residents, including at the detention center, which has a staff of 1,500 guards and civilians. As of April 1, according to health officials at the base, 47 percent of those eligible had not had a dose.

For more than a year, Cambodia managed to escape the brunt of the coronavirus. Then, the government says, came the quarantine evaders.

In late February, four Chinese nationals who were undergoing mandatory quarantine at a luxury hotel in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, bribed a security guard to let them leave before the end of their two-week stay, according to Prime Minister Hun Sen. Two of the four later tested positive for the coronavirus.

The cluster, tied to the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant that was first detected in Britain, quickly spread to about 30 more Chinese nationals in Cambodia and then radiated out into the community. On Monday, the Cambodian health authorities reported a record 624 new confirmed infections, with almost 6,500 people infected since the outbreak began on Feb. 20. The death toll stood at 45, all recorded this year.

The World Health Organization representative in Cambodia has said that the outbreak could spiral into a national tragedy, given the countrys poor health care services.

In an effort to contain it, Phnom Penh began a two-week lockdown on Thursday that bars people from leaving their homes except for work, grocery shopping and medical treatment. The lockdown began during Khmer New Year, Cambodias biggest holiday.

But even as the security guard who allowed the Chinese to break out of quarantine was quickly arrested, the quarantine dodgers were not punished, because there was no law to prosecute them at the time, Mr. Hun Sen said.

That changed last month with the adoption of a new law that makes violations of pandemic measures punishable by up to $5,000 in fines or 20 years in prison. At least a dozen people have been arrested under the new law. Though the government says it is necessary to protect against the virus, human rights groups have criticized the penalties as disproportionate.

They also say that provisions of the law such as a ban on gatherings could easily be abused by Mr. Hun Sen, who has become increasingly authoritarian during his 35 years in power. A state of emergency law that he enacted last April in response to the pandemic gave him extensive powers to restrict civil liberties and target political opponents.

With the nation in lockdown and two of the countrys biggest industries, garment manufacturing and tourism, devastated by the pandemic, Cambodias citizens are bracing for more pain. Mao Vet, a security guard in Phnom Penh who makes $200 a month, worries about how long he will be able to keep his job.

I am very concerned that infection is out of control, he said.

France is introducing one of Europes first Covid-19 vaccine passport initiatives, the authorities said this week, as countries across the continent seek to facilitate travel by the summer.

The initiative will at first be for use on domestic flights to Corsica and then on longer ones to Frances overseas territories, the government said in a statement on Monday. The ultimate goal is to make the digital certificates applicable to travel to other countries.

Starting this week, people in France can get a digitally certified record of coronavirus test results, either by downloading and printing a certificate or by adding it to a smartphone app that the authorities have used for contact tracing. It will be expanded to include proof of vaccination starting on April 29.

The information such as the type of test or vaccine, along with the date it was administered and by whom will be digitally recorded with a kind of QR code that France uses to certify official documents and that the police, customs officers, airlines and others will be able to quickly scan.

This method therefore avoids possible fraud related to the presentation of fake test results, the government said in the statement.

The digital certificates are part of the European Unions push for a Digital Green Certificate to enable travelers to move freely around the bloc if they carry proof of a negative test, vaccination or recovery from the virus.

Amid questions over the effectiveness of Chinese-made coronavirus vaccines, researchers in China are testing the safety and efficacy of mixing two different Covid-19 shots.

The trial, which includes 120 healthy participants over age 18, involves administering one dose of a vaccine developed by CanSinoBIO followed weeks later by a shot of a vaccine made by Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical, according to a clinical trial registration this month. These are two of the five vaccines in use in China.

With more and more vaccines being authorized around the world, researchers have begun testing the efficacy of mixing shots from different vaccine makers. Some shots are being mixed in clinical trials, while others are being tested on animals.

A senior Chinese official said this month that it might be necessary to administer Chinas vaccines in greater doses or to use them together with other vaccines because of their lower effectiveness. The official, Gao Fu, later said his comments had been misunderstood.

Brazilian officials have said that the efficacy rate of CoronaVac, made by the Chinese company Sinovac, was 50 percent, barely meeting the World Health Organization threshold for widespread use. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been found to be 90 percent effective, according to researchers.

The distributors in the United Arab Emirates for the Chinese vaccine manufacturer Sinopharm said last month that they were offering some people a third shot after finding that some recipients of two doses had insufficient antibody levels.

The details of the trial were filed to ClinicalTrials.gov, a website under the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and were earlier reported by Reuters.

Global Roundup

The Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu has paused outbound travel from its main island after a body that washed ashore tested positive for the coronavirus.

The body, identified as a Filipino man, was found last week after a tanker ship leaving the capital, Port Vila, reported one of its crew members missing. Officials in the Philippines said that the body was that of the missing seaman and that they had contacted his family.

On Sunday, after tests showed that the body was infected with the virus, the government banned air and sea travel out of the island of Efate until Wednesday as authorities carry out contact tracing. Twenty-four people have been placed into quarantine, according to the Daily Post, a newspaper in Vanuatu. Health officials say that the risk of community transmission is low, but the island nations prime minister, Bob Loughman, said the case was a reminder that the fight against coronavirus is not over yet.

Vanuatu, a collection of volcanic islands roughly 1,100 miles northeast of Australia that is home to about 300,000 people, has largely managed to avoid the pandemic, recording just three infections before this one. The first was reported in November in someone who had flown home from the United States.

Like other South Pacific island nations with limited health infrastructure, Vanuatu closed its borders early to keep the virus off its shores. The closures have mostly succeeded: The Solomon Islands has recorded just 20 coronavirus cases, Samoa only three.

But the latest case in Vanuatu shows how the virus can still spread. According to ABC News of Australia, the Filipino seafarer had been working aboard a gas tanker, the British-flagged Inge Kosan, which had docked in Australia and Papua New Guinea before arriving in Port Vila on April 7. Three days later, the tanker set off for the Solomon Islands, but then stopped after the captain discovered that the crew member was missing.

In other news around the world:

India reported its highest single-day death toll of the pandemic, 1,761 fatalities, as health officials prepared to make everyone over age 18 in the country eligible for a vaccine starting on May 1. Questions persist over whether Indian vaccine manufacturers can meet the demand or whether the government can procure significant quantities of foreign-made doses to rapidly expand its inoculation effort. Indian officials have said that mass vaccinations may be the only way to slow what is now the worlds most severe outbreak, with an average of nearly 200,000 new infections recorded daily for the past week.

President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador of Mexico publicly received AstraZenecas Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday, touting its safety after several countries limited its use after rare cases of blood clots, Reuters reported. Mexico issued emergency use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in January. As of Tuesday, about 9 percent of Mexicans have received at least one dose and about 3 percent are fully vaccinated, according to a New York Times database.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands announced Tuesday that his country would ease monthslong lockdown measures though it continues to grapple with high numbers of cases, according to Reuters. Starting April 28, a nationwide curfew will be lifted and bars and restaurants will be allowed to serve small groups outdoors from between noon and 6 p.m. About 7,800 cases have been recorded daily in the Netherlands for the past week.

In Greece, a Coast Guard spokesman said on Monday that a Greek cargo ship traveling to Colombia from Egypt had been quarantined off Crete after a 55-year-old Filipino sailor was found dead in his cabin and others tested positive for the coronavirus.

New data shows that the pandemic appears to have prompted an unusually large flow of residents out of New York and San Francisco, two regions with a high share of jobs that can be done remotely.

But about 30 million change-of-address requests to the U.S. Postal Service in 2020 show that for the most part, migration patterns during the pandemic have looked a lot like migration patterns before it.

Some smaller regional metro areas and vacation hubs benefited, but areas that were already attracting new residents kept attracting them.

Those that were losing migrants lost more, and there are few examples at least so far of previously down-and-out regions drawing people in.

The past year has crushed independent restaurants across the United States and underscored how many were unprepared for a digital world.

Its no longer enough to maintain basic websites or Instagram accounts with well-lit food photos. Chefs and owners have had to add to-go ordering, delivery scheduling, gift card sales and other e-commerce options.

Its therefore a prime moment for restaurant tech. Dozens of companies determined to help independent restaurants and grocers survive have started or scaled up sharply as they found their services in urgent demand.

Thousands of people have been left stranded in the streets of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, each night since Saturday, as the authorities strictly enforced curfew restrictions that have been criticized by human rights groups.

Police officers have set up roadblocks on several of Nairobis major highways at night, and told drivers on the roads after the 8 p.m. curfew that they would have to camp there until the curfew ended at 4 a.m.

The roadblocks caused extensive traffic snarls in the city. Videos posted on social media showed parents stranded in traffic while trying to rush children to the hospital and high school students who were unable to get home.

Karen Strejnowski battled COVID-19 at the same time as both of her parents.

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio Currently, in Ohio, nearly 40% of adults have received their first coronavirus vaccine. However, while millions more Americans continue to get vaccinated against the coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are rising in many states. For Karen Strejnowski it is a grim reminder that we are still in the midst of a pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 568,000 Americans including Strejnowskis mom.

Strejnowski was faced with endless shock when the coronavirus came knocking on her familys door. It all started with her mother Pat who was infected by a home healthcare worker. Pat quickly wound up in the intensive care unit at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center. The coronavirus infection led to serious complications with Pats heart.

Strejnowski says she wanted nothing more than to be by her mothers side in the hospital and the separation was devastating.

"The thought of her fighting this virus alone in the hospital where we couldn't be with her is absolutely heartbreaking," Strejnowski said. "Every day, I'd go to my parents' house and my father and I would sit by the phone waiting for every latest update...it was torture."

After a few days in the hospital, Strejnowski received a devastating call - her mother Pat did not survive the virus.

It was the worst moment of my entire life to know that that call was going to be coming, to know there was nothing we could do, to know it was happening and we couldnt stop it, said Strejnowski.

Strejnowski says within 12 hours of her mom's passing, she too ended up in the ICU with COVID-19.

"Battling the deadly virus while simultaneously grieving the loss of my mom was unbearable, and just when I thought I couldn't handle anymore...I learned my dad was in the emergency room also being admitted with coronavirus," she remembered. "To say I was terrified and distraught is an understatement."

Strejnowski understood the feeling of loneliness that so many coronavirus patients experience in hospitals throughout the country.

When you lose someone close to you, you want to be around other people, you want someone to hug you and hold you and someone to tell you it's going to be okay, and to be in an isolation chamber where the only people that come into your room are wearing hazmat suits and gas masks, its so surreal, she said. To know that I just lost my mom and I might lose my dad in the same week, it was too much. It was too much to bear.

However, little angels, like nurse Lindsay Wells helped bear some of the burden. A simple smile with the eyes through Lindsays pink gas mask or a touch of the hand helped Karen in more ways than one.

I have very long hair and long hair gets very tangled when you are laying in a hospital bed and you are hooked up to all the machines and oxygen masks and tubes and all these different things. Then one day [nurse Lindsay] came into my room and she said, lets brush your hair, lets put it in a ponytail and she brought me a hair tie and she brushed my hair out, she said. That was like one of the first moments that I was like oh, she actually believes I am going to be okay because shes trying to preserve my hair right now.

Wells said she wanted to make Karen feel as comfortable as possible.

I wanted her to know that I was there for her, period. I sat down and talked to her for a while in the room, not about her mom, but that she needed to stay strong, said Wells.

Karen eventually made it out of the ICU and said, as they were wheeling me through the Covid floor they stopped in my dads room and I got to see him.

A few days later both Karen and her father were discharged from UH Parma Medical Center and today she carries her mom in her heart. She relives beautiful moments of her mom making the perfect smiley-faced pancakes, or the fact that she never missed a softball practice. She spends many days looking through pictures of her parents and the decades they spent together.

I wake up and I pray and I think god thats Im still here and thank god my dad is still here. I feel my mom is with me. I feel her presence; I feel her watching over us. I still feel her.

Editor's note: The video in the player below is from a story published on Feb. 17, 2021.

As of Monday,COVID-19 vaccines are available to every American over 16 who wants a shot, but a panel of experts convened by USA TODAY remains deeply concerned about the people who say vaccines aren't needed.

Anxiety about getting a shot is normal, expected and can be resolved with education and role models, several panelists said.

"People who have questions deserve to have those questions answered. Thatsfair and thats on us," saidDr.Gregory Poland,director of theMayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group.

What he and others worry about arethose who deny the importance of vaccination and try to convince others to forgo it.

Vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have been shown to be effective preventing upward of 90% of infections, both in clinical trials and real-world studies. And they've been shown to be safe, delivered to more than 125 million Americans.

"You would have trouble finding a better vaccine," saidDr. Paul Offit,director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Once a month for nearly a year, USA TODAY has examined the development and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines with an expert panel whosespecialties rangefrom virology to logistics.

We asked members to create an imaginary clock, starting at midnight, when the virus first came to public attention and ending at noon when anyone who wanted a shot could get one.

Last June, the first month of our coverage, panelists put the time at4 a.m., and estimates advanced by a fullhour most months.

Although it's still a challenge to work the computerized registration system in many states, theoreticallyhigh noon has been reached, and vaccines are available to most everyone.

We had expected to rollthe clock back at least once, as vaccine development and rollout stumbled.Though it took 11 months to advance eight hours, we never went backward, a testamentto the massive resources devoted to creating the vaccines in record time.

This month, the message from the 15 panelists was clear: Vaccines are safe, effective and a triumph of scienceessential for ending the pandemic and restoring the U.S. economy. The big challenge is getting enough people to take them.

COVID-19 hasclaimedmore than 567,000 livesin the USA and sickened millions more, yet fears remain among too many Americans about the tinysafety riskthat comes with all vaccines.

"The threat is right in front of our noses, and we look past it to worry about an overblown and theoretical risk that hasn't been supported after tens of millions of vaccinations," said Dr. Otto Yang, an infectious disease specialist at the Geffen School of Medicine at the UCLA.

In 2018, vaccine hesitancy was listed as one of the Top 10 global health threatsby the World Health Organization.

People still seem to think pathogens aren't a problem unless they're personally affected.

I hear people say things like, We didnt take it seriously until my brother died of it, and after seeing what he went through, then we changed our mind,Poland said. That means a whole lot of people have to die to convince people.

Some panelists expressed optimism that most can be convinced to get vaccinated, to protect themselves and others.

"I am amazed by how effective these vaccines are in real-world studies," saidDr.Monica Gandhi,an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco, "and am over the moon that we are so lucky to have these vaccines."

"Nothing succeeds like success," said Dr.Kelly Moore,deputy director of the nonprofit Immunization Action Coalition.

Despitehitches, the vaccine development and rollout have been incredibleaccomplishments.

The first vaccines were developed and completed large clinicaltrials less than a year after the SARS-CoV-2 virus was identified. Massive amounts of federal funding under the Trump administration assured that large-scalemanufacturing wouldn't lag too far.

Under the Biden administration, distribution of the vaccines stepped up substantially, along with production, and more than 3 million Americans roughly 1% of the total population get vaccinated every day.

The success increases the stakes for getting the majority of the population vaccinated, Moore said.

"If we fail at that, its a failure of willrather than a failure of science," she said. "And we will have no one to blame for but ourselves."

'We arent at the finish line,' Biden says COVID is dangerous despite vaccine rollout

Despite the vaccine rollout, Biden sends warning that coronavirus is still dangerous.

Associated Press, USA TODAY

The biggest setbacks in vaccinationshave come in recent weeks in safety and production issues aroundthe Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was authorized for use in the USA on Feb. 27, and the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, which hasn't applied for authorization herebut is used around the world.

Because the Biden administration bought enoughof the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, supply by midsummer should cover every American adult who wants a shot, with more remainingfor younger teens and children, who aren't yet eligible.

Even if J&J and AstraZeneca are never usedhere, a fifth vaccine, from Novavax, may win authorization.

Vaccines won't be the total solution mask-wearingand avoiding crowds also matter, Yang said. Too often during the pandemic, leaders have stepped back from these measures when they should have encouraged people to keep going.

"As soon as numbers fall, they start relaxing containment measures," Yangsaid, comparing it to firefighters leaving the scene of a fire as soon as they begin to gain control. "When the flames are low, that is the time to redouble and intensify efforts, because that is when you have a chance to put out the fire."

Because it's too hard to control the virus with behaviors, vaccines have become the only way to stop this crisis, panelists said.

"Solving for vaccine hesitancy will be absolutely critical to ending this pandemic and revitalizing local economies across the country," saidDr.Michelle McMurry-Heath,president and CEO of Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a trade group.

They offeredsome creative ideas for encouraging more people to get vaccinated.

Pamela Bjorkman,a structural biologist at the California Institute of Technology, harkened back to the days of the polio vaccine rollout, when role models were publicly vaccinated to encourage peopleto get their shots.

"The Elviseffect," as she called it,"resulted in a lot more people getting poliovirus vaccinations." Elvis Presley famously got the polio vaccine on television before performing on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1956.

"We need a series of Elvises to promote vaccination for COVID-19 protection," Bjorkman said.

University of Missouri law professor Sam Halabi would like to see more well-known figures, such asLALaker LeBron James,get publicly vaccinated.

Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and their first ladies all werepart of a television advertising campaign to get vaccinated. Former President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump werevaccinated but less publicly.

Communicationexpert Peter Pitts sees a role foreach vaccinated person to "sell" the idea of vaccination to others.

"While targeted public relations and advertising campaigns are important, what will really move the needle (both literally and figuratively) are neighbors talking with friends, neighbors and relatives about their positive experiences and the feeling of freedom" after vaccination, said Pitts, president and co-founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.

"Peer pressure is a potent tool in the battle against vaccine skepticism," he said.

Yang agreed that personal connections will be key, because too few Americans put their trust in experts or the news media.

"They need to hear the information from someone they personally know and believe," Yang said. "Politics and disinformation have so polluted the public psyche that many people just won't believe anything from even the most reputable sources, or worse yet, believe disinformation based on their political alignment."

People need to be reminded that when they get vaccinated, they help not just themselvesbut people who can't get full protection because they're immunocompromised, have allergies to the shots or are particularly frail,Offit said.

He recalled when California lawmakers were trying to decide whether to allow parents to exempt their kids from routine childhood vaccinations. The tide turned in favor of vaccination when a5-year-old boy named Luke, who couldn't get shots because he was being treated for leukemia, got up in front of the state Legislature.

Standing on a stool to reach the microphone, he said, What about me? I depend on you to protect me,Offit remembered.

"Ultimately, the real carrot is watching vaccinated people get back to their normal lives over time," saidVivian Riefberg,professor of practice at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, "and the real stick might unfortunately be with continued sickness and unnecessary death."

For our final question to panelists, we asked what surprised them the most about thevaccine development and distribution.

Most cited the speed by which effective vaccines have been made widely available.

"I am astonished, but not surprised, by the global scientific brilliance and collaborative spirit that has produced a profusion of useful vaccines," said Arti Rai,law professor and health law expert at Duke University Law School."Most surprising to me has been the ability of the U.S. public health care system, challenged as it is in so many ways, to do a reasonablejob on the delivery end."

"I am amazed to see how effective the vaccine has been in preventing hospitalization and death," said Prakash Nagarkatti, vice president for research at theUniversity of South Carolina.

"Without the vaccines, we would be thinking not just about wave four but also waves five, six, etc.,right now," Riefberg said.

She praised the public-private collaboration that gotthe vaccines produced in record time, as well as the effective use of government funding to support vaccine developmentand rescue the economy.

"Imagine if there were no vaccines and outright economic collapse," she said. "This time last year, that was a distinct possibility."

On the negative side of the ledger, several panelists expressed dismay about the fragmentation of the health care system, particularly under the Trump administration, in which every state operated on its ownunderlittle direction from Washington.

"I was surprised how ill-prepared we were for this in general," said Florian Krammer, a virologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. "Many lives could have been saved if we had responded properly from the beginning."

Dr. William Schaffner,a professor and infectious disease expert at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, said he was discouraged that it took so long to roll out vaccines at the local level."Also, how much variation in vaccination prioritization occurred among the states," he said.

That slow start turned into a breakneck paceand will hopefully serve as a role model for fixing other problems, several panelists said.

"It creates confidence in government capacity to deliver at scale quickly," said Prashant Yadav, a medical supply chain expert andsenior fellow at the Center for Global Development. "Lets hope this confidence is contagious to other fields if we have been able to do it in public health, can we also do it for health care more comprehensively?"

Several panelists pointed out that the virus highlightedchallengesin America's health care system and the need to prioritize global health.

"While this is not a surprise, the pandemic has laid bare the stark inequities in health care/society that need to be addressed," Riefberg said.

She and others said they were shockedbythe widespread rejection of science and the politicization of basic health measures such as mask-wearing, vaccines and vaccine passports to prove inoculation.

Riefberg said she's disappointedthat therearen't many good treatments to fight COVID-19. "After a year and about 1,000 clinical trials, all we have is remdesivir (maybe), monoclonal antibodies (less effective by the day because ofvariants)and steroids," she said.

Panelists said their concerns couldn't dim their overall enthusiasm about the vaccines and thepotential they have to make a real difference in the pandemic saving lives and allowing people to bounce back from the incredibly difficult past year

"The resiliency of the average American is astounding," Pitts said.

USA TODAY asked scientists, researchers and other expertshow far they think the vaccine development effort has progressed since Jan. 1, 2020 when the virus was firstrecognized. Fifteenresponded this month. We are grateful for the time they have devoted to this project.

Pamela Bjorkman,structural biologist at the California Institute of Technology

Dr.Monica Gandhi,an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco

Sam Halabi,professor of law, University of Missouri; scholar at the ONeill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University

Florian Krammer,virologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City

Dr.Michelle McMurry-Heath,president and CEO of Biotechnology Innovation Organization

Dr.Kelly Moore,deputy director of the nonprofit Immunization Action Coalition; former member of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices

Prakash Nagarkatti,immunologist and vice president for research, University of South Carolina

Dr. Paul Offit,director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphiaand a professor of Vaccinology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Peter Pitts,president and co-founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interestand a former FDA Associate Commissioner for External Relations

Dr.Gregory Poland,director, Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group, and editor-in-chief, Vaccine

Arti Rai,law professor and health law expert at Duke University Law School

Vivian Riefberg,professor of practice at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, director emeritus and senior adviser withMcKinseyanda board member of Johns Hopkins Medicine, PBSand Signify Health, a company working totransformhow care is paid for and deliveredat home

Dr. William Schaffner,a professor and infectious disease expert at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee

Prashant Yadav,senior fellow, Center for Global Development, medical supply chain expert

Dr.Otto Yang,professor of medicine and associate chief of infectious disease at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Contact Karen Weintraub at kweintraub@usatoday.com and Elizabeth Weise at eweise@usatoday.com.

Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input.

More than 567,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, and there are currently over 3 million reported deaths worldwide, Johns Hopkins University data shows. However, there is also encouraging news. On Sunday, the CDC reported more than 50% of Americans above the age of 18 have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.Recent reports show that demand for a COVID-19 vaccine is decreasing in parts of the United States. Experts estimate 70% - 85% of the United States will need to be immune to the virus to suppress the spread.For those who are vaccine hesitant, what are some common myths about the vaccines, and how can each of us work to address these misconceptions?CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor at George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, weighed in on how everyone can debunk myths, ease concerns and spread accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccines.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CNN: Why is it important for everyone to know what myths are circulating about coronavirus vaccines?Dr. Leana Wen: One of the key principles in public health is that the messenger is often more important than the message. You are the most trusted messenger to someone. It could be your parents, your work colleagues or your friends. Getting people vaccinated is our best hope of ending this pandemic, and we need everyone's help to convince people to do so.Another principle of public health is to meet people where they are. That means seeking to understand why someone may have hesitancy about the coronavirus vaccine. How you approach someone is going to be completely different if they are concerned about whether the vaccine is safe versus if they don't believe coronavirus is real. Listening to someone's concerns and then addressing them, with compassion and empathy, is crucial.There are common myths I often hear from my patients, but there are things that each of us can say if someone around us expresses these myths.CNN: Let's talk about vaccine safety. There must be a lot of myths around that.Wen: A common myth is that getting the coronavirus vaccine will give you coronavirus. I hear this every year when it comes to the flu vaccine, too: Often, patients will say they don't want to get the flu vaccine because they think they'll get the flu from it.Neither is true. If someone is concerned about this, you can say that none of the coronavirus vaccines being tested in the U.S. contains live virus. So it's not possible to get coronavirus from the coronavirus vaccine.Another set of myths is around the mRNA platform that is used for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. I've heard people worry about whether the vaccine will somehow affect their genetic code and alter their genes.This is not true. It's helpful to explain what the mRNA technology is. The term "mRNA" stands for messenger RNA, which is a portion of the genetic code that teaches cells how to make a protein. The protein that's made by the mRNA then activates an immune response, teaching our bodies how to respond to coronavirus if we come into contact with it in the future.What's very important to understand is what the mRNA does not do: It never enters the nucleus of people's cells, which is where our DNA is contained. That means the vaccine does not interact with people's DNA at all, and therefore will not alter our genetic code.CNN: The mRNA technology is a new technology. Many have concerns that it's too new and that it was developed too fast.Wen: There are two points here and two ways to address this concern. First, the mRNA technology has actually been in development for well over a decade. Second, I think it's critical to explain that no shortcuts were taken in the scientific research or approval processes. Yes, scientists did develop the vaccines in record time. But that's because the entire global scientific community went to work. They didn't start from scratch; after SARS and MERS outbreaks, a lot of work already went into starting the vaccine development.The U.S. government and other governments invested a lot of money in the research. Every phase of the clinical research was followed as it is for other vaccines, with tens of thousands of volunteers in the clinical trials. External committees of independent scientists vetted the data and there were no shortcuts taken in vaccine authorization.CNN: What about allergic reactions? Isn't there also a myth that these vaccines provoke too many allergic reactions and are therefore not safe?Wen: It is true that there have been some reports of allergic reactions to the vaccines. Allergic reactions can occur to virtually any medical product. In the ER, we treat allergic reactions to food and medications all the time. They are much easier to treat than COVID-19.At the moment, it's not clear as to why these very rare allergic reactions are happening. That's why everyone getting the COVID-19 vaccine is required to stay around for 15 minutes after receiving it. And if you have a history of severe allergic reactions, you might be required to wait 30 minutes. If a severe allergic reaction occurs, it can be treated with an EpiPen.The remote possibility of a rare allergic reaction is no reason not to receive the vaccine. The very real and substantial benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the highly uncommon (and treatable) risks of allergic reactions. Those with food and medication allergies can still get the vaccine. The only reason you shouldn't get the vaccine is if you have a specific known reaction to a component of the vaccine itself.CNN: Here's another myth we don't know how long the vaccine provides immunity, so there is no point in taking it.Wen: This is where acknowledging that the myth comes from a place of some truth is a good starting point. It is true that we don't know how long the immunity from the vaccine will last. Studies thus far suggest that it should last at least for several months, but we don't know whether immune protection from the vaccine wanes over time. It's also possible that enough mutations might arise that new vaccines need to be configured, and people who received the vaccine already may need a booster shot as is the case with a tetanus shot. It may be that coronavirus vaccine becomes something that you have to get every year, like the flu vaccine.But just because you may need to get the vaccine again at some point again doesn't mean you shouldn't get it the first time. Think about the flu vaccine: Just because you have to get it every year doesn't mean you should never get it at all. CNN: What about young and healthy people saying that it's only those who are elderly or with underlying medical conditions who should get the vaccine?Wen: We want everyone to get the vaccine.Here's why. First, even those who are young and healthy may contract coronavirus and become very ill. It's less common, but deaths do occur in this population, too. Second, we need to strive for herd immunity through vaccination. That's the level at which the virus will substantially slow, and hopefully even stop, its spread. Public health experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci have estimated that we need about 70% to 85% of the population vaccinated to reach that point.The sooner we get people vaccinated, the earlier we can all return to some semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy and end the devastation of this disease. And that requires not only the elderly and more vulnerable, but all of us getting the vaccine.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CNN: I'm sure you've encountered folks who think they can stop wearing a mask after they get the vaccine.Wen: Our understanding right now is that the COVID-19 vaccine prevents someone from getting ill, and the vaccine also guards against severe illness that results in hospitalization and deaths. That's really important. But we don't know whether the vaccine prevents someone from being a carrier of coronavirus who could infect others. Also, the vaccine appears to be 95% effective, which is amazing, but it's not 100%.That's why people still have to use caution even after they are vaccinated. At some point, though, as we approach herd immunity through vaccination, we will be able to do away with masks. In the meantime, think of vaccines as a tool that doesn't replace other tools but is essential to saving lives.You can also find information regarding common COVID-19 vaccine misconceptions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the CDC, it is OK for you to get the vaccine if you plan on having children one day. "There is currently no evidence that COVID-19 vaccination causes any problems with pregnancy, including the development of the placenta. In addition, there is no evidence that fertility problems are a side effect of any vaccine, including COVID-19 vaccines," the CDC's website states.John Hopkins Medicine and Mayo Health Clinic System address getting a COVID-19 vaccine if you previously contracted the virus."People who have gotten sick with COVID-19 may still benefit from getting vaccinated. Due to the severe health risks associated with COVID-19 and the fact that re-infection with COVID-19 is possible, people may be advised to get a COVID-19 vaccine even if they have been sick with COVID-19 before," Johns Hopkins Medicine website reads.The Mayo Clinic Health System provides similar information, saying, it is not currently known, "if or for how long after infection someone is protected from getting COVID-19 again. This is called natural immunity. Early evidence suggests natural immunity from COVID-19 may not last very long, but more studies are needed to better understand this."Hearst Television contributed to this report.

More than 567,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, and there are currently over 3 million reported deaths worldwide, Johns Hopkins University data shows.

However, there is also encouraging news. On Sunday, the CDC reported more than 50% of Americans above the age of 18 have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Recent reports show that demand for a COVID-19 vaccine is decreasing in parts of the United States. Experts estimate 70% - 85% of the United States will need to be immune to the virus to suppress the spread.

For those who are vaccine hesitant, what are some common myths about the vaccines, and how can each of us work to address these misconceptions?

CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor at George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, weighed in on how everyone can debunk myths, ease concerns and spread accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccines.

CNN: Why is it important for everyone to know what myths are circulating about coronavirus vaccines?

Dr. Leana Wen: One of the key principles in public health is that the messenger is often more important than the message. You are the most trusted messenger to someone. It could be your parents, your work colleagues or your friends. Getting people vaccinated is our best hope of ending this pandemic, and we need everyone's help to convince people to do so.

Another principle of public health is to meet people where they are. That means seeking to understand why someone may have hesitancy about the coronavirus vaccine. How you approach someone is going to be completely different if they are concerned about whether the vaccine is safe versus if they don't believe coronavirus is real. Listening to someone's concerns and then addressing them, with compassion and empathy, is crucial.

There are common myths I often hear from my patients, but there are things that each of us can say if someone around us expresses these myths.

CNN: Let's talk about vaccine safety. There must be a lot of myths around that.

Wen: A common myth is that getting the coronavirus vaccine will give you coronavirus. I hear this every year when it comes to the flu vaccine, too: Often, patients will say they don't want to get the flu vaccine because they think they'll get the flu from it.

Neither is true. If someone is concerned about this, you can say that none of the coronavirus vaccines being tested in the U.S. contains live virus. So it's not possible to get coronavirus from the coronavirus vaccine.

Another set of myths is around the mRNA platform that is used for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. I've heard people worry about whether the vaccine will somehow affect their genetic code and alter their genes.

This is not true. It's helpful to explain what the mRNA technology is. The term "mRNA" stands for messenger RNA, which is a portion of the genetic code that teaches cells how to make a protein. The protein that's made by the mRNA then activates an immune response, teaching our bodies how to respond to coronavirus if we come into contact with it in the future.

What's very important to understand is what the mRNA does not do: It never enters the nucleus of people's cells, which is where our DNA is contained. That means the vaccine does not interact with people's DNA at all, and therefore will not alter our genetic code.

CNN: The mRNA technology is a new technology. Many have concerns that it's too new and that it was developed too fast.

Wen: There are two points here and two ways to address this concern. First, the mRNA technology has actually been in development for well over a decade. Second, I think it's critical to explain that no shortcuts were taken in the scientific research or approval processes. Yes, scientists did develop the vaccines in record time. But that's because the entire global scientific community went to work. They didn't start from scratch; after SARS and MERS outbreaks, a lot of work already went into starting the vaccine development.

The U.S. government and other governments invested a lot of money in the research. Every phase of the clinical research was followed as it is for other vaccines, with tens of thousands of volunteers in the clinical trials. External committees of independent scientists vetted the data and there were no shortcuts taken in vaccine authorization.

CNN: What about allergic reactions? Isn't there also a myth that these vaccines provoke too many allergic reactions and are therefore not safe?

Wen: It is true that there have been some reports of allergic reactions to the vaccines. Allergic reactions can occur to virtually any medical product. In the ER, we treat allergic reactions to food and medications all the time. They are much easier to treat than COVID-19.

At the moment, it's not clear as to why these very rare allergic reactions are happening. That's why everyone getting the COVID-19 vaccine is required to stay around for 15 minutes after receiving it. And if you have a history of severe allergic reactions, you might be required to wait 30 minutes. If a severe allergic reaction occurs, it can be treated with an EpiPen.

The remote possibility of a rare allergic reaction is no reason not to receive the vaccine. The very real and substantial benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the highly uncommon (and treatable) risks of allergic reactions. Those with food and medication allergies can still get the vaccine. The only reason you shouldn't get the vaccine is if you have a specific known reaction to a component of the vaccine itself.

CNN: Here's another myth we don't know how long the vaccine provides immunity, so there is no point in taking it.

Wen: This is where acknowledging that the myth comes from a place of some truth is a good starting point. It is true that we don't know how long the immunity from the vaccine will last. Studies thus far suggest that it should last at least for several months, but we don't know whether immune protection from the vaccine wanes over time. It's also possible that enough mutations might arise that new vaccines need to be configured, and people who received the vaccine already may need a booster shot as is the case with a tetanus shot. It may be that coronavirus vaccine becomes something that you have to get every year, like the flu vaccine.

But just because you may need to get the vaccine again at some point again doesn't mean you shouldn't get it the first time. Think about the flu vaccine: Just because you have to get it every year doesn't mean you should never get it at all.

CNN: What about young and healthy people saying that it's only those who are elderly or with underlying medical conditions who should get the vaccine?

Wen: We want everyone to get the vaccine.

Here's why. First, even those who are young and healthy may contract coronavirus and become very ill. It's less common, but deaths do occur in this population, too. Second, we need to strive for herd immunity through vaccination. That's the level at which the virus will substantially slow, and hopefully even stop, its spread. Public health experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci have estimated that we need about 70% to 85% of the population vaccinated to reach that point.

The sooner we get people vaccinated, the earlier we can all return to some semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy and end the devastation of this disease. And that requires not only the elderly and more vulnerable, but all of us getting the vaccine.

CNN: I'm sure you've encountered folks who think they can stop wearing a mask after they get the vaccine.

Wen: Our understanding right now is that the COVID-19 vaccine prevents someone from getting ill, and the vaccine also guards against severe illness that results in hospitalization and deaths. That's really important. But we don't know whether the vaccine prevents someone from being a carrier of coronavirus who could infect others. Also, the vaccine appears to be 95% effective, which is amazing, but it's not 100%.

That's why people still have to use caution even after they are vaccinated. At some point, though, as we approach herd immunity through vaccination, we will be able to do away with masks. In the meantime, think of vaccines as a tool that doesn't replace other tools but is essential to saving lives.

You can also find information regarding common COVID-19 vaccine misconceptions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the CDC, it is OK for you to get the vaccine if you plan on having children one day.

"There is currently no evidence that COVID-19 vaccination causes any problems with pregnancy, including the development of the placenta. In addition, there is no evidence that fertility problems are a side effect of any vaccine, including COVID-19 vaccines," the CDC's website states.

John Hopkins Medicine and Mayo Health Clinic System address getting a COVID-19 vaccine if you previously contracted the virus.

"People who have gotten sick with COVID-19 may still benefit from getting vaccinated. Due to the severe health risks associated with COVID-19 and the fact that re-infection with COVID-19 is possible, people may be advised to get a COVID-19 vaccine even if they have been sick with COVID-19 before," Johns Hopkins Medicine website reads.

The Mayo Clinic Health System provides similar information, saying, it is not currently known, "if or for how long after infection someone is protected from getting COVID-19 again. This is called natural immunity. Early evidence suggests natural immunity from COVID-19 may not last very long, but more studies are needed to better understand this."

Hearst Television contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (AP) Prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center can begin getting the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as Monday, a senior defense official told The Associated Press, months after a plan to inoculate them was scuttled over outrage that many Americans werent eligible to receive the shots.

The new timing coincides with President Joe Bidens deadline for states to make all adults in the U.S. eligible for coronavirus vaccines. Beginning Monday, anyone older than 18 in the country qualifies to sign up and get in a virtual line to be vaccinated.

The defense official said all 40 men held at the Navy base in Cuba will be offered the vaccination to comply with legal requirements regarding the treatment of prisoners and to help prevent COVID-19 from spreading. Strict quarantine procedures had already sharply curtailed activities at the base and halted legal proceedings for prisoners facing war crime trials, including the men charged in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack.

Obviously, we dont want an outbreak of COVID on a remote island with the challenges that would present, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the effort ahead of an official announcement.

The announcement in January that the military intended to offer the vaccine to prisoners sparked intense criticism, particularly among Republicans in Congress, at a time when COVID-19 vaccines were just being rolled out to troops and civilians at Guantanamo and were not widely available in the United States.

Several Republican members of Congress backed legislation that would have blocked Guantanamo prisoners from receiving the vaccine until all Americans had the opportunity to receive it.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy criticized the decision on Twitter. President Biden told us he would have a plan to defeat the virus on day 1, the California Republican said on Jan. 30. He just never told us that it would be to give the vaccine to terrorists before most Americans.

Though the decision to vaccinate the prisoners may still prove controversial, a key difference now is that the vaccine is now available to anyone over 18, both on the base and throughout the U.S. Half of all adults in the country have received at least one dose of the shot.

At Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, 56% of the total population of about 5,700 people, a mix of military personnel, contractors and dependents, has been vaccinated, and the shot is available to any adult who wants it, said Dawn Grimes, a public affairs officer for the base hospital.

There are about 1,500 people assigned to the task force that runs the detention center on the base. There have been no known cases of COVID-19 among them, nor among any of the prisoners.

Medical personnel have already discussed the vaccine with the prisoners. The military does not plan to disclose how many ultimately choose to accept it, the official said, citing medical privacy regulations.

The Biden administration announced in April that it could conduct a full review of detention center operations with the goal of eventually closing the facility, which opened in January 2002 to hold people suspected of links to al-Qaida and the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks.

At its peak in 2003, the detention center at the Navy base on the southeast tip of Cuba held nearly 680 prisoners, and it drew widespread condemnation over the treatment of the men held there, most without charges.

Closing it has proved a challenge because the U.S. has sought to continue holding and prosecute some prisoners, but Congress has prevented the transfer of anyone held there to facilities inside the country for any reason.

Those still being held there include Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, who, along with four others, faces trial on charges that include murder and terrorism over the Sept. 11 attacks. The long-stalled case remains in the pretrial stage, and no hearings have been held in more than a year because of the pandemic.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Its now easier than ever to get a COVID-19 shot.

Theres plenty of vaccine available, and in some cases you can get one on the spot.

During the final week of March, 52,000 South Dakotans received the vaccine.

Last week that number dropped to just 34,000.

Avera family physician Dr. Chad Thury says when COVID vaccinations first started, we had a lack of vaccine and a lot of people wanting it.

Now, he says theres plenty of vaccine, but less demand than what was anticipated at this time.

Angela Furness got the COVID-19 vaccine so she can have more protection against the virus.

So when they came out with the vaccine I felt it was the best thing to do, Angela Furness said.

The Sioux Falls woman had no concerns about getting the shot.

However, there is some vaccine hesitancy among others for a variety of reasons.

There are some people that are just never going to get vaccinated and I dont think were going to, unfortunately, be able to convince them, but I think theres some that just have some hesitancy, maybe need to be educated a little more on some of the concerns they have, Avera family physician Dr. Chad Thury said.

Thury says COVID-19 vaccines are extremely safe.

Theres certainly risk and benefit when it comes to anything we do, and vaccines are the same. If you look at severe complications from vaccines, extremely low. Is it a possibility? Yes, but once again, extremely, extremely low as far as any type of severe, adverse reaction, Thury said.

He says, if youre on the fence, get vaccinated.

If you have questions, get facts from your primary doctor.

If we want to get back to normal and kind of do normal activities then we really need to continue to vaccinate more people and get closer to that herd immunity, Thury said.

While Furness will continue taking COVID safety precautions, she feels relieved that she has both doses of the shot now.

I feel a little bit better, a little bit more safer, Furness said.

Dr. Thury also pointed out some people who think of themselves as healthier may be allowing others to get the vaccine first, but he says now is the time to get vaccinated.

He also says a vaccine concern he hears a lot about is fertility.

He says theres no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines impact fertility.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Many colleges and universities are preparing for the fall semester.

For some, that includes making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory.

Action News Jaxs Alicia Tarancon spoke with some universities and colleges in our area.

While a COVID-19 vaccine isnt required at University of North Florida, Florida State College of Jacksonville or Jacksonville University, it is strongly recommended to help curb the spread of coronavirus.

>>More on the COVID-19 vaccine

JU is going back to a full-capacity campus, meaning that in-person classes, clubs and sports will all be in full swing come this fall.

Layla Thompson told me its one of the reasons shes fully vaccinated.

Since I am a nursing student, I go to clinicals and help out in the hospitals. So its definitely a great extra protection while being in the hospital. I think everybody should go and get it so we can try to get everything back to as normal as possible, Thompson said.

But not every student says they feel at ease about getting a vaccine.

Recent polls show that about a quarter those between the ages of 18 to 24 years old said they would not get the vaccine.

Im just a little skeptical because I just dont know much about it yet. Im sure with more information coming out Ill get a little more educated or enlightened, but for now Im just holding off, Katelyn Hearn said.

UNF and FSCJ have been holding vaccination clinics on campus.

FSCJ is partnering with the Florida Department of Health so that students and faculty can have easy access to the vaccine if they want to get it.

[QUICK LINKS: How to make a COVID-19 vaccine appointment in the Jacksonville area]

I think itll bring us back to campus faster, which will be good, said FSCJ student Raymond Davis.

University leaders say their students are ready to return after missing out on the college experience.

With the vaccine, with the positivity rate in the community and on our campus, that well be able to return to a fully engaged campus, said Kristie Gover, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Jacksonville University.

It seems like each day theres more bad news about coronavirus variants.

There are headlines claiming the variants are becoming deadlier, and stories warning that some variants could escape the vaccines, imprisoning us in a never-ending pandemic. With every step forward like how millions of Americans are being vaccinated daily it feels as though the variants send us two steps back.

A growing number of infectious disease experts are now saying the variant narrative has spiraled out of control. Yes, there are several variants circulating, and its true that some appear to be more transmissible. Yes, we need to continue wearing masks and protecting ourselves and others until we get closer to herd immunity. But theres no definite evidence that any of the variants are more virulent, and there is currently no reason to think the variants will render our vaccines completely useless, infectious disease experts say.

Our immune systems are extremely complex, and even if some parts of the immune system dont respond as robustly to the variants after vaccination, its not going to give up on us that easily.

The COVID vaccines help you produce antibodies and they trigger another immune response that also fights the virus.

Much of the research regarding immunity against COVID-19 (which can be achieved either through vaccination or natural infection) has looked at antibodies. These little fighters go after the coronavirus and prevent it from binding to cells in our body and creating an infection. Some lab studies have found that antibodies dont do as good of a job fighting variants, which has raised fears that the vaccines might not be able to keep us safe.

But antibodies dont tell the full story. When people say antibody levels dip and therefore protection against COVID-19 disappears this is totally wrong, said Jay Levy, a virologist and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

The immune system is very complex, and in addition to antibodies, theres a whole other aspect, known as the cell-mediated immune response, thats just as important, if not more. This part helps create something called T-cells, which are crucial to preventing infections. The COVID-19 vaccines dont just generate antibodies; they also prompt your immune system to produce T-cells.

T-cells are the main line of defense against the virus, said Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease specialist with UCSF. T-cells can identify many different parts of the coronavirus (some studies say up to 52 parts) and get rid of any cells that are carrying the virus. The cell-mediated immune response can also help our systems produce new antibodies if need be. Mutations or not, T-cells will still be able to detect the virus and jump into action. Your immune response is very complex, very robust, and very in-breadth against multiple parts of the virus, Gandhi said.

So, why arent we all talking about how awesome T-cells are? Theyre really hard to measure, Gandhi said, whereas measuring antibodies involves a simple blood test. But researchers have looked at the cell-mediated immune response in people who were either vaccinated or had COVID-19, and the findings are exciting.

For one thing, all of the vaccine clinical trials found that participants produced strong T-cell responses after vaccination, according to Gandhi. Theres also evidence that the variants probably arent going to have a very meaningful effect on the immunity we get from being fully vaccinated. Two recent studies found the T-cell response was unaffected by variants, and another paper found that while some antibodies diminished against variants, our T-cell response held up just fine.

When it comes to COVID-19, a robust T-cell response is the difference between a mild infection and serious disease, research shows. The cells cant always prevent an infection, but they may be able to clear it out quickly so you dont get badly sick. If you get vaccinated, you dont need to worry about getting infected or if you do [get infected], that you will have any serious illness, Levy said.

Your immune response is very complex, very robust, and very in-breadth against multiple parts of the virus.

- Monica Gandhi, infectious disease specialist, University of California, San Francisco

How long will these T-cells last?

From the looks of it, even if antibody levels wane over time, T-cells are probably going to keep us protected against variants for a while, especially when it comes to severe disease, according to Gandhi.

The coronavirus would have to change pretty dramatically to totally escape recognition from the cellular immune response and render our vaccines useless. The cellular immune response seems to be a little more diverse, or a little more inclusive, so it can pick up small, little changes that a variant might have and still handle it, Levy said.

The cell-mediated immune response can also have a lengthy memory. Researchers have evaluated the blood of people who had the SARS coronavirus in 2003, and found their T-cell immunity has persisted for up to 17 years. The T-cell response has similarly held up in people whove been vaccinated against measles for 34 years and counting.

COVID-19 is a little over a year old, but early evidence suggests our T-cells will last, though its unclear exactly how long. Some experts say we may need booster shots eventually, and scientists are already working on those. But given the durability of our cellular immunity, many infectious disease experts think boosters, at least in the near future, will be unnecessary.

Researchers will continue studying how components of the immune system antibodies, T-cells and everything in between deal with the coronavirus over time, but we know the immune system is robust and durable when it comes to fighting viruses.

So, if youre vaccinated, the next time you read a chilling headline about a variant, take a breath and think of the T-cells. Know that the T-cells work against the variants and you are OK, Gandhi said.

Experts are still learning about COVID-19. The information in this story is what was known or available as of publication, but guidance can change as scientists discover more about the virus. Please check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the most updated recommendations.